NOTES ON MAINIMAI.S OF THE KANKAKEE VALLEY 



By Walter Ij. Hahn, 



Fellow in ZooUujij, Jadiana Tmivrrsity, BJontiiim/ton.. Indiana. 



During the month of August, 1905, the writer was engaged in field 

 work for the United States National Museum in the Kankakee basin 

 in northwestern Indiana. Most of the time was spent in trapping 

 small mammals and the results of this collecting, together with the 

 information obtained from trappers and other residents of the region, 

 are embodied in the present paper. 



The region is one of considerable interest to the naturalist. In a 

 general way it marks the eastern limit of several species of mammals 

 which are characteristic of the prairies, and in zonal position it is also 

 intermediate, having elements of both the Transition and Upper 

 Austral life zones. The large areas of almost impenetrable swamp 

 have furnished retreats for many of the larger animals so that some 

 of them have survived here longer than in most other localities in 

 Indiana or the adjoining States. At the present time, however, the 

 land is being drained and reduced to cultivation and the effect of 

 such extensive changes as are being caused by these processes afford 

 opportunities for a closer study of problems in local adaptation than 

 the writer was able to make in the limited time at his disposal. 



According to the official report of a survey made in 1882, the 

 reclaimable swamp land of the Kankakee Valley in Indiana at that 

 time comprised an area of 500,000 acres. A part of this was perma- 

 nently under water, while the remainder was flooded only during 

 periods of heavy rainfall. Most of the area was covered with a dense 

 growth of coarse marsh grass and reeds and was treeless, but a heavy 

 growth of timber of varying width lined the banks of the river. Low 

 sand hills, rising above the level of the marsh, formed islands, which 

 were generally wooded and which afforded homes for nonaquatic 

 plants and animals. 



Since 1882 much of the land has been drained. English Lake, 

 represented on maps still in general use as the largest lake in the 

 State, no longer exists. Beaver Lake, a large body of water in New- 

 ton County, has been drained and its former site is now under culti- 

 vation. At other localities also marshes have been drained and, it 



Proceedings U. S. National Museum, Vol. XXXII— No. 1537. 



455 



